104. Expressions of the Past: Archeological Research at Voyageurs National ParkRichner, Jeffrey J.

This report is an archeological overview and assessment that summarizes the state of archeological knowledge regarding Voyageurs National Park through about 2003. An Overview and assessment is a specific type of National Park Service planning document that is intended to provide a basis for understanding and managing the archeological resources of a particular park area. Ideally completed very early in a park’s history, the document is intended to guide management and research of the park’s archeological resources. However, due to scheduling and funding constraints, overview and assessments are more often completed much later in a park’s history than originally envisioned. Such is the case for this report, which has been developed several decades after founding of Voyageurs NP. Despite this scheduling, the content of the report is roughly comparable to that preferred and stated in the NPS Cultural Resources Guideline under Director’s Order 28. The report’s content differs from the idealized overview and assessment since it synthesizes about 30 years of archeological fieldwork and site investigation in the park, rather than merely summarizing the potential for site presence and reviewing regional literature. The primary goals of the report are to provide a culture-historical summary for understanding sites known or anticipated to be present within the park, to summarize and assess the adequacy of all previous archeological investigations within the park, to synthesize site age, content, affiliation, function, and distribution, and to make recommendations for the future management and study of the park’s archeological sites.